"Pretty Little Liars"’s 35 Worst Characters Ever
When it comes to trustworthiness on Pretty Little Liars, there’s two basic rules: One: Don’t trust anyone new in town. And two: You can never be sure if you truly know someone (which brings us back to point one, but we digress). Considering that the Liars never fully know who is after them, and the enemy has changed shape multiple times throughout the series, anyone could be a suspect. Over the past seven seasons, we’ve met a lot of questionable characters — from corrupt police officers (‘sup Wilden) to evil parents (lookin’ at you, Mr. DiLaurentis.) We’ve rounded up the most suspicious characters of PLL history and ranked them in order of least to most shady. (We’ll save the best — and sketchiest — for last.)
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY1/34Sabrina Carpenter (no, the other one)
Granted, Sabrina hasn’t done anything outwardly shady (yet), but there’s something a little...off about her. Perhaps it’s just the fact that we can never trust any of the Liars’ significant others in the early stages of their relationships. We’ve been burned one too many times (right, Ezra?)
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY2/34Sydney Driscoll
Sydney was around for a hot minute a few seasons ago, and it seemed like she and Emily were going to become close...until it was revealed that she was Team Jenna. Remember that time she and Jenna were literally “twinning” in their identical outfits to trick Spencer into thinking she was seeing double? Not cool.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY3/34Leslie Stone
Speaking of characters that were around for a quick moment in time, Leslie popped up after Mona’s “death” and seemed like a concerned friend... at first. She later testified in court against the Liars in a total backstabbing move. We haven’t seen her in a while, but there’s always a possibility she’ll pop back up.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY4/34Talia Sandoral
While Talia wasn’t on the “A”-team or anything like that, she was still pretty shady. Chef Talia and Emily started dating, and things were going well until we learned that Talia casually had a husband. Ummmm, no thanks. Emily was over that relationship faster than you can say “apple flambé.”
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY5/34Clark Wilkins
Let’s be honest: Clark was such a stage-5 clinger. The fact that he always showed up around Aria — especially when trouble was near — set off warning bells in fans’ minds throughout season 6A. However, it turned out that he was just an undercover cop. Which probably explained why he was such a bad photographer. But, real talk, he was probably the best cop that had ever set foot in Rosewood. Can’t he stay?
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY6/34Cyrus Petrillo
Cyrus, or “Hank,” was last seen in the burn victim’s unit at the hospital. He gave the Liars a major clue written on a piece of paper: the word “Varjak,” and, BTW, we’re still not sure of that clue’s significance. We first met Cyrus when Ali was trying to peddle her kidnapping story all around Rosewood, and he was framed as her kidnapper. We have a feeling that we still don’t know everything there is to know about Cyrus.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY7/34Lyndon James
What’s with all the aliases on this show? We don’t know any teenagers who use fake names as much as the kids on PLL. Lyndon, or “Nate,” was revealed to be Maya’s killer (RIP Maya) a few seasons ago. Before we learned that he was actually a cold-blooded murderer, he befriended Emily, which eventually ended in tragedy when Emily had to shoot him in self-defense.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY8/34Jason DiLaurentis
Despite the fact that Jason seems to be one of the “good guys” now, there was a period of time when we really weren’t sure that we could trust him. Plus, let’s not ever forget that he was a member of the N.A.T. Club and he spied on his own sister. Creepy. He was absent from Rosewood for a while, and we’re still not entirely sure what he might have been up to.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY9/34Lucas Gottesman
Sure, Lucas turned into Rosewood’s own Mark Zuckerberg and he drives a Lambo (or some fancy equivalent), but he’s always been a little sketchy. We might be able to chalk his shadiness up to the fact that he’s been in love with Hanna for seven seasons (right?) but there could be a darker motive behind his actions. Remember when he destroyed Alison’s memorial? Yeah….
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY10/34Meredith Sorenson
At first, Meredith just seemed like an innocent college girl who got mixed up in an affair with Aria’s dad, but then she turned into a legit stalker. We’re still not over the fact that she drugged Aria, stole her phone, and basically tried to kill the Liars.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY11/34Byron Montgomery
It feels fitting to go from Meredith to Byron here. While Aria’s dad has a good heart and has redeemed himself over time, we can’t forget the fact that he was once a suspect for Ali’s murder (!!!) and his affair with Meredith was ultra sketch. Plus, the fact that he asked Aria to keep it a secret from her mom was just not cool.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY12/34Mike Montgomery
Might as well stick to the whole Montgomery family for a moment. Poor Aria — first her friends tried to convince her that her dad was “A,” then they theorized that her brother was out to get them. Granted, he was doing a lot of weird things like leaving bags of candy in the middle of the woods and stashing vials of blood in protein shake cans in his room. Of course, it turned out that he was just in love with Mona and tried to help her fake her own death. Casual.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY13/34Andrew Campbell
Andrew started off as a normal teenager. We first met him when he was helping Spencer, ahem, study, and then he later had a brief romance with Aria. Before long, he began to seem majorly creepy – he started spying on the Liars and was believed by the girls (and the police) to be “A” for some time. Ultimately, it was revealed that he was not “A” – Andrew was just a teenage boy with an unhealthy obsession with the Liars. However, some fans think he could still be a contender for Uber “A,” especially since much is still unknown about his childhood and past.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY14/34Paige McCullers
Sorry, Paily shippers, but Paige is still on our radar. She definitely lost the trust of the Liars earlier in the series after she told the police that Ali was still alive — something that they desperately wanted to keep secret. And then later, she teamed up with Mona and Lucas to start a war against Ali (even though she still was in love with Emily and wanted to protect her.) As for Paige’s return in season 7, while we’re excited to see her, we’re also wary. It seems like the timing is a little too fishy.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY15/34Peter Hastings
The parents on PLL are an interesting bunch. They’re either completely badass (like Ashley Marin), totally M.I.A. (was the last time we saw Ella Montgomery?), or totally messed up, like Peter Hastings. Between his secret children, bouts of infidelity, and overall aggressive attitude, we definitely wouldn’t want him as a dad. Poor Spencer.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY16/34Bethany Young
We haven’t seen Bethany’s adult face yet, but that girl has caused allllll sorts of drama. Because her body was in Ali’s casket, everyone believed Ali was dead for years. We’re still not sure how police misinterpreted her DNA for Ali’s, or how Jessica identified the body, but we’ll let that go for now. We also learned that she was responsible for Toby’s mom’s death; according to Charlotte, Bethany pushed Marion off the roof of Radley as a child.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY17/34Shana Fring
Shana was pretty shady from the moment we first met her at the Halloween shop. Later, it turned out that she was in a relationship with Jenna, and was trying to bring justice to her. Shana was one of the most dangerous “A”-suspects, as she set fire to the lodge and also shot Ezra. Yikes.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY18/34Garrett Reynolds
When we first met Garrett, he seemed like was almost trustworthy, as he was nice to the Liars and seemed like he was genuinely sympathetic to the fact that they lost one of their best friends. However, it turned out that he was dating Jenna and was also a member of the N.A.T. club, along with Jason and Ian. Garrett was thought to be Ali’s killer, and was even arrested for the crime. Eventually, he decided to confess everything to the girls, but was killed aboard the Halloween train before he got the chance. (Who could forget the image of Garrett’s dead body in that wooden box with Aria???)
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY19/34Gabriel Holbrook
Officer Holbrook first appeared on the scene after Wilden’s murder, and by that point, we learned never to trust new cops in Rosewood. Sure enough, he turned out to be almost as shady as Wilden himself. Like his predecessor, he quickly became obsessed with the Liars, and he kissed both Hanna and Ali (which was CREEPY, and also illegal).
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY20/34Linda Tanner
We’ll stay on the Rosewood PD theme for a minute. Tanner joined the PLL family in season 4 to team up with Holbrook in the investigation of Wilden’s murder. She was also the main officer on the dollhouse case through season 6. She was very aggressive with the Liars, showing up at their high school and pulling them from class for interrogations. There was speculation among fans for a while that she might have been on the “A” team (but that would have been really weird).
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY21/34Alison DiLaurentis
Yeah, we said it. Ali is kinda shady, and she belongs on this list. Don’t get us wrong — we love her, we’re rooting for her, but we have to acknowledge the fact that Ali is the best liar of all the Liars. Let’s not forget the fact that it was Ali who said, “You’re always better off with a really good lie.” There’s a part of us that would not be surprised if she was revealed to be the mastermind behind the entire mystery.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY22/34Jessica DiLaurentis
Yeah...so….Jessica BURIED HER DAUGHTER ALIVE. Let’s never forget this. Oh, and she put dirt in Spencer’s bed. (To be fair, that could have been Mary Drake. We don’t know. Ugh, twins.) Then there was the whole thing about locking Charlotte in Radley, even though that was mostly Kenneth’s idea. (We’ll get to him soon, don’t worry.) While Jessica eventually was brutally murdered (and we STILL don’t know who killed her), she wasn’t exactly the mother of the year while she was alive.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY23/34CeCe Drake
We know that Charlotte had a really traumatic childhood, and we definitely get that. But...at the same time...she tortured the Liars for years. She locked them in a dollhouse. She put microchips in their necks. She almost tried to kill them, like, a million times. However, in season 6B, it certainly seemed like Charlotte might have changed her ways. But new developments in season 7 make us wonder: Was Charlotte trying to scam Ali’s money along with Elliott — we mean, Archer? And also: Is she really dead? So many questions….
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY24/34Ezra Fitz
Can we rip on Ezra for a sec? Please? First of all, he manipulated and stalked a bunch of teenage girls in the name of a “crime novel.” He had a lair for crying out loud. More importantly, he had a romantic (and sexual) relationship with Aria when he was her teacher and she was only in high school. That’s not just creepy, it’s also illegal, and let’s not forget the fact that he also had an inappropriate relationship with Ali. We still have our eye on Ezra, romantic proposal or not.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY25/34Mary Drake
Of all the new characters since the time jump, Mary Drake is perhaps the most confusing. We’re not sure if we trust her yet. On the one hand, she seems to genuinely care about Alison, and it sounds like she and Jessica had a flawed sisterhood. (And remember, Jessica wasn’t the nicest person.) On the other hand, she was working with Archer, and we still don’t know the extent of their “plan.” Mary will be on our radar for a while.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY26/34Kenneth DiLaurentis
Ali and Jason’s dad’s biggest crime was his unbelievable ignorance and cruelty. According to Charlotte, Kenneth locked her in Radley because she was transgender; he couldn’t love her for who she was. Our hearts are still broken over that scene of Jessica and Kenneth dropping Charlotte off at Radley as a child, and we will never forgive Kenneth for not being able to accept Charlotte’s true self. In the time that’s passed since then, Kenneth has been pretty M.I.A. from Rosewood, and we’ve learned that Charlotte was actually Mary Drake’s daughter, not Jessica’s. We’re not sure what that means for him.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY27/34Ian Thomas
Ian was definitely the mastermind of the N.A.T. Club, and had collected dozens of creepy videos while spying on the Liars. He is also a member of the “shady adult men club” as he had a romance with Ali and also made a move on Spencer. One of the biggest mysteries of PLL surrounds Ian’s death — we’re still not 100% sure who pushed him from the bell tower.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY28/34Sara Harvey
Oh, Sara Harvey. We’ve never been entirely sure what to make of her. In the 6A finale, Sara was revealed to be Charlotte’s sidekick, using both the Red Coat and Black Widow disguises. In season 7, she teamed up with Jenna, which didn’t add to our level of trust. We have a feeling that there’s still much more to learn about Sara...including the name of her killer.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY29/34Jenna Marshall
Jenna is essentially the OG villain. She was the very first person that the Liars suspected to be “A,” and of all the possible “A”s, Jenna really did have a strong motive. (Let’s never forget: Ali threw a stink bomb into her house that resulted in an injury that left her blind. It’s no wonder that Jenna had a hunger for revenge.) That said, Jenna continues to remain mysterious, even though she’s helped the Liars at times. We’re never entirely sure who’s side she is on.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY30/34Noel Kahn
Noel has always had an edge to him, ever since the days when he was writing “I see you” on car windshields and blackmailing teachers. And remember the time he was casually hiding under a sheet in the middle of his cabin? The latest episodes in season 7 revealed that Noel had been working with Charlotte in the dollhouse and he might have killed Sara. We see you, Noel.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY31/34Archer Dunhill, AKA Elliott Rollins
While we don’t know the whole story surrounding Elliott (oh, excuse us, Archer), we do know that he swiped a dead doctor’s identity, faked an American accent, and stole all of Ali’s money and kept her in isolation — with a muzzle on. So, it’s pretty safe to say that Archer is high on the “shady” scale. Oh, and let’s not forget that he had a collection of creepy masks and photos of Darren Wilden behind his bed. And speaking of Darren Wilden….
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY32/34Officer Darren Wilden
For a grown man, let alone a police officer, this guy was way too obsessed with a bunch of teenagers. He straight up harassed the Liars — particularly Hanna — and he also had a (very inappropriate) relationship with Ali. Wilden added a ton of drama to the first few seasons, and even caused a whole world of trouble for Hanna’s family after his death.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY33/34Wren Kingston
Wren comes in as the second most shady character of all time mostly because there is still so much left unknown about him. In our very first introduction to him, he was hitting on his fiancée’s sister; he was engaged to Melissa, but making a move on Spencer. Who does that?! While he was portrayed as relatively “innocent” throughout the first couple of seasons, he quickly segued into a suspicious character when we saw him at Radley. Between the red coat drawing, the visitor pass for CeCe, the “ambiguous loss speech,” and his involvement with Charlotte during the time jump, we’re pretty sure Wren still has a huge part to play in the second half of season 7.
And the “Shadiest PLL Character of All Time” award goes to...
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY34/34Melissa Hastings
You guys. Melissa is beyond sketchy. Let us count the ways. She was involved with the N.A.T. Club, she teamed up with “A” at one point, she sent Ali threatening messages, she worked with both Jenna and Shana, she drugged Aria on the Halloween train and put her in a box, and, oh that’s right, she killed Bethany Young. Melissa has been at the crux of almost every single mystery on this show, and we would not be at all surprised if we see her again (along with Wren) in the winter.
